2012 Fantasy Baseball: Outfield Rankings

Opening Day is next week and Athlon Sports has all the fantasy baseball rankings you need to get ready for the upcoming season.

Athlon Sports has combined nine fantasy baseball big boards from around the web to compile an updated consensus Top 200 as well as positional breakdowns.

Matt Kemp still leads the way among the outfielder rankings, but Ryan Braun is nipping at his heels. Braun, who was ranked No. 71 overall on the previous Big Board, soared up the Top 200 this time around and now checks in at No. 4.

It's no secret that the reason for the drastic change in his rankings is because his 50-game suspension for violation of MLB's drug policy was overturned in late February. Now that we know Braun, if healthy, will be eligible to play a full season, it's a matter of if the reigning NL MVP can repeat or come close to last season's numbers without Prince Fielder hitting behind him.

Outside of Braun, the only change among the first fifteen outfielders has nothing to do with rankings. Giancarlo Stanton (No. 32 overall, No. 10 OF) is the Marlin formerly known as Mike Stanton. The 22-year-old slugger announced in late Februray that he wanted to be called by his given first name, rather than Michael/Mike, which he started using in the fifth grade.

Carl Crawford and Corey Hart are the two among the top 30 that saw their stock drop the most as both are dealing with injuries. Hart (No. 104 overall, down from No. 93) had knee surgery in early March, but there's still a chance he could ready by Opening Day or shortly thereafter. That does not appear to be the case for Crawford (was No. 17 OF, now No. 24), whose recovery from offseason wrist surgery has taken longer than initially expected.

Among the top 50 outfielders, Andre Ethier (No. 130, up from No. 150), Martin Prado (No. 140, up from No. 157), Melky Cabrera (No. 143, up from No. 165),Carlos Lee (No. 172, up from No. 200) and Angel Pagan (No. 185, up from No. 213) were the biggest risers.

Rank â Position ranking
OVR â Overall ranking on The Big BoardLR â Last Ranked, where player was ranked on The Big Board that was published on Feb. 20, 2012NR â Not Ranked, means player did not appear on The Big Board that was published on Feb. 20, 2012